It’s what happened to Alter in last year’s rivalry game in a three-point loss. On Thursday night in the 57th edition of the Battle of Kettering, it happened again. And Fairmont won 24-7 to extend its winning streak to “four in a row” as the Firebirds chanted in the locker room after the game.
A stop on fourth-and-1 near midfield and an interception by junior linebacker Skyler Slifer set up Fairmont touchdowns in the third quarter that built a 21-7 lead.
“We’ve never done that really before to come out at halftime and just put the foot on their throat,” Slifer said. “It wasn’t really me. It was everybody.”
Before the momentum-shifting plays in the third quarter, the first half was as Fairmont coach Dave Miller expected. His team plays in the powerful Greater Western Ohio Conference against fellow Division I teams. But he knew playing Alter, with 16 starters back from a run to last year’s Division IV state final, would severely test his team.
“They played 16 weeks last year, and Coach (Ed) Domsitz said they got better and better each week, and that’s what we had to face tonight,” Miller said.
Fairmont scored first with one of its patented drives: 14 plays, 75 yards, over eight minutes. Fullback Logan Doty capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Man, he’s a beast,” Fairmont senior quarterback Brock Baker said. “Gotta keep feeding him the ball.”
Doty carried 26 times for 91 yards in his first start.
“It’s very nerve-wracking, but with the guys that I have and the linemen I have and the defense I have, I had no worry coming out here and and knowing that we could get the job done,” Doty said.
Alter responded with a similar drive and tied the score 7-7 on quarterback Gavin Connor’s 2-yard run around the left end with 5:15 left in the first half.
“We played them pretty tough the first half,” Domsitz said. “You cannot afford to make any mistakes against Fairmont. They do what they do very well, and they took the game the second half, and they didn’t let go.”
The Knights, however, had a chance to take control in the third quarter when they advanced to their own 49. But on third-and-2, Noah Jones was stopped for one yard. On fourth-and-1, Connor lost a yard, and the ball went back to Fairmont.
“When they are able to move the football as they do, as a coach across the field, you want to hold on to football as long as you can,” Domsitz said. “And you got to be able to pick up two yards on two plays. We weren’t able to do that, and that certainly set them up.”
The fired-up Firebirds marched to a Doty 1-yard touchdown plunge for a 14-7 lead.
“That was absolutely huge, that stop on fourth down, because they get the momentum there and go up 14-7 it’s a different game,” Miller said. “They thrive on stuff like that.”
And so do the Firebirds.
On Alter’s next play from its own 20, Connor rolled out to his right, Slifer cut in front of a receiver at the 23, made the interception and returned the football to the 16. Seven plays later Doty scored from the one again for a 21-7 lead. Max Gehring added a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
“We got a lot of a lot to correct, but I think we showed up and we showed really who we are this year,” said Brock Baker, who rushed for 34 yards on 11 carries. “If we just keep growing and focusing on the process, we can do some pretty cool things this year.”
The Firebirds’ identity hasn’t changed. The rushers this year are Baker and two 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomores: Doty and Damien Pattin. In addition to Doty’s 91 yards, Pattin, the halfback, carried six times for 55 yards. The Firebirds rushed for 191 yards on 49 carries, and threw the ball only three times.
“We got a two-headed monster, as far as I’m concerned,” Miller said, “for the next three years.”
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